This airport is owned by Dukes County and lies on the border between the towns of West Tisbury and Edgartown.

The airport identifier MVY has entered into general use as an abbreviation for the island of Martha's Vineyard and is often used for non-aviation purposes.

[1] The terminal has a restaurant, passenger holding areas, check-in desks, and a small luggage claim.

[citation needed] The airfield was built in 1942 as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Martha's Vineyard (NAAF Martha's Vineyard) to support the training of naval aviators before their deployment to aircraft carriers in the Pacific Theater.

The installation was renamed "Naval Auxiliary Air Station Martha's Vineyard" in 1945, placed in caretaker status in 1946, and ultimately transferred to Dukes County in 1959.

Historical photos and memorabilia are mounted on the main hall's western wall near the restaurant entrance, and tell the story of the Navy squadrons posted there during the war.

One major project was to shift 200  ft of runway 6 - 24 and renovate taxiways to allow jets such as ERJ-190 and CRJ-200 to operate at the airport.

The airport also renovated and reconstructed its main runway 6 - 24 in 2018–2019; the project cost around $10 million, including adding NO TAXI islands around the ramp.

American and Delta Airlines resumed service in late June with their schedules operating by half of 2019.

[citation needed] In January American Airlines announced that it would begin seasonal service between the island and Chicago; later, they changed their summer schedule and added more flights to Washington D.C.

[citation needed] Later, JetBlue reduced their summer schedule to the island to about 15% due to pilot shortage, which postponed their Newark route to resume after Labor Day and cut some flights to John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Delta Airlines increased their schedule to operate four times daily on the 76 seats ERJ-175; they also extended their season until October 10 from flights to La Guardia Airport.

Also in 2024, American Airlines announced that they will return flights to La Guardia Airport daily from June to September.

JetBlue will also now serve daily flights to Washington–National, increasing capacity from the 2023 season, which used to operate only Fridays - Sundays.

The community of Martha's Vineyard hopes that either United Airlines or Breeze Airways will fill the cap and introduce flights to White Plains and Newark, which would increase MVY market to NYC City.

In addition, the airport is working to become 95% carbon-free in the future, adding electric chargers for the new Cape Air Eviation Alice aircraft.

The airport will create new hangars for aircraft maintenance and expand its terminal to accommodate the high summer demand.

FedEx Feeder offers a year-round flight from Providence, during summer months cargo flight can go up to 5 times a day and one time a day in the winter, all cargo continue to their FedEx facility at the airport and then into their trucks for delivery.